Cellulitis. "Skinny-Fat." Creatine. Flowers.

[shanmonster]

My weekend wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

There were good things. I went to my company picnic and had tasty food and did a bit of Zumba. It was pretty fun. I successfully jumped over my own foot for the first time in eleven years, and I attempted a handstand pushup. I'm not ready for it yet, but I was able to bend and straighten my arms in that position, so I take this as an excellent sign.

I also got to go to see the new Conan movie with knightky, and I enjoyed it a lot. It's in the spirit of the original books, and the opening scene is hysterically over the top. Young Conan is a total psychopath, too, which I found entertaining.

But what sucked was this: when Kyle showed up to hang out, he had a bee sting on his elbow. This was no big deal. It was sore, but looked normal enough. But on Saturday morning, it showed signs of being infected. And so we set off to emergency just to be on the safe side, and it went tits-up from there. On the walk, the red spot on his elbow began to grow. And when we got to the hospital, he was put on a course of IV antibiotics. The verdict? Something nasty called cellulitis, which as far as I can tell is a subdermal staph skin infection. He's taking heaps and heaps of antibiotics (intravenous and oral) to keep it at bay, because it ended up being a severe case.

What rotten luck.

We'd intended on going roller-blading and swimming, but that just didn't happen, of course. We did, however, watch lots of Game of Thrones. Here's hoping he's all better by the weekend!

Here we are at the company picnic. The bandage on his arm is hiding his borg implants (ie. IV gear).



Before heading off to the gym today, I was leafing through Oxygen magazine and found an article on "skinny-fat." Lord, I hate that term. It's terrible on several levels. First of all, they don't mean someone is skinny with fat, per se. They mean someone is skinny and unfit. Secondly, with their definition, they are conflating fat with unfit, and these things are not the same at all. As I've mentioned again and again, it is very possible for someone to be both fat and fit. But I digress. I read this horrid little article and lost a lot of respect for the magazine. According to the test in the article, I am skinny-fat, and should exercise more and stop eating junk food. I am willing to bet that pretty much every fitness model in the magazine would fail this skinny-fat test during their off season. And they are all in phenomenal shape. Fuck you, Oxygen. There is a significant difference between the fat on a bodybuilding competition-weight person and the fat on a fit, healthy, non-bodybuilder. Fuck you very much. You are going to give people not in the know a complex.

In other news, after reading up on it for ages and talking to a few people who use it, I began taking creatine supplements today. Today's workout was surprising. If it's related to the creatine, damn, that shit works fast. I had more energy and more strength during my workout than usual. I increased the weights on every one of my exercises, and went from holding a standard plank to holding an extended one. I also threw in a couple of power jumping jacks between sets. My forearms were burning from all the extra weight I was holding during my split squats off a step, but my hip flexors weren't screaming at me as usual. I guess they've decided split squats are ok, after all.

Just because, I attempted a modified dragon flag today. I brought my body up while my knees were bent, then slowly unbent them and tried lowering myself with legs out straight. I didn't get far, but again, I think this insane move may eventually be possible for me.

Not bad for a skinny-fat chick.

Comments

[valkryor.livejournal.com]

Does this make skinny the new fat? :P

And there's nothing wrong with the word "unfit". If it's what they mean, then there's no reason to make unfit synonymous with fat. Why promote the stereotype that a fat person only sits around all day stuffing their face with whatever food is in reach? Unfit people do the same, but that doesn't seem to matter if they're a size 2.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, the term "fat" instead of "unfit" is used because fat is still considered more of a bogeyman in our society. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

It makes me rage.

ROAR!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

This article is the closest to showing a definition that makes sense to me. In the photo, it basically shows a small-boned, unmuscled woman with approximately 30% body fat. She would look slim in regular clothing, but "fluffier" in a swimsuit or underwear.

I like the comparison photos of thin women and thin, muscular women. Now, if there were articles out there that also demonstrated fat, muscular women, I'd be even happier! I've seen women of this body type in sports like shotput, powerlifting, and hammer throw.

[ladymech.livejournal.com]

? Was it the article in the magazine, or do you have a link? I would like see some fat, muscular women.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

The article was in the magazine itself. As for muscular women with fat, you can see some here:

http://ninamatsumoto.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/athletes04.jpg

http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/news/kind=2/newsid=40665.html

http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Sonya_Lamonakis

http://www.fscclub.com/vidy/sumo-e.shtml

[lordjulius.livejournal.com]

Re: the creatine -- you gotta consider placebo effect too :)

sorry, ultra-left brained child of scientists here.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying it was the creatine, necessarily. I honestly forgot I'd taken it by the time I was doing my workout. There are numerous factors, including my regular strength-training beforehand coupled with finally not being run down by a messy case of the monthlies. Arr.

I'll see how I continue.

Still, I was struggling with the bench press before, and today, I increased it by 20 lbs, and I think I can still increase it more. I just wish I could have a spotter.

staph infection;

[luciferian.livejournal.com]

looks like the guy in the picture got his infection from chi-sao

Re: staph infection;

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Only if the bee practiced it on him. He doesn't play wing chun.

Re: staph infection;

[luciferian.livejournal.com]

a bee sting makes sense, we've actually had a few people hospitalized, IV antibiotics, minor surgeries, pretty intense. Somehow the hair folicles on the forearm get infected and its gets into the dermal layers, scary.

Re: staph infection;

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I know! It's crazy! Just darned bad luck. Kinda scary that it can happen from anything that breaks the skin, from a papercut to a bug bite.

Re: staph infection;

[luciferian.livejournal.com]

great photos BTW

Re: staph infection;

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Thank you!